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book reviewsB o o k R e v i e w s

pealingtoawideaudience.Birch Coulie’ssuccesswillcomethroughreachingreadersunfamiliarwiththetopicandsparkingfurtherstudyandinquiry.

WhileChristgaumakesnomentionofthespellingchoice,Coulieisanolderversion,nowconsideredanalternate. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861–1865,pub-lishedbyactoftheMinnesotalegislaturein1889(andcitedmanytimesinChristgau’sbook),isoneofthefewworkstousethisspelling.Mostmodernreferences,includingthestatehistoricsite,calltheplaceBirchCoulee.

ThoughpublishedbytheUniversityofNebraskaPress,thebookismoreapopularhistorythananacademicwork.AlookatthesourcecitationssuggestsChristgaudidalotofresearch,buthereliesheavilyonbroadsecondarysources.Hisprimaryresearchdrawsmostlyfromacoupleofeyewit-nessaccountspublisheddecadesaftertheevents.Peculiarly,citednewspaperissuesareoftenreminiscencesfromyearsafterward,insteadofarticlesfrom1862.Sourcenotesareorganizedbypagenumberandseparatedbyvaryingseg-mentsoftext.Somepageshavemultiplecitations,whileothernotesencompassseveralpages.Thatcanmakelinkingspecificquotesandfactstotheiroriginalsourcesdifficult.

Thebook,whilesympathetictoDakotaviewpoints,lacksanauthenticDakotavoiceandoftenoversimplifiesdifficultissues.Someofitslanguagewouldbemorecomfortableinanearly-twentieth-centuryaccountthanonewrittenintheearlytwenty-firstcentury.Still,readerslookingforanintro-ductiontothesubject,andfansofDuaneSchultz’sOver the Earth I Come,willbehappywiththisbook.Oncefinished,readersshouldcheckoutadditionaltitlesbyGwenWester-man,DianeWilson,MaryWingerd,GaryClaytonAnderson,andothersformoreperspectiveandcomplexity.

Reviewed by Ben Leonard, executive director of the Nicollet County Historical Society, headquartered in St. Peter, Min-nesota. NCHS owns the Treaty Site History Center and E. St. Julien Cox House, and contractually operates Harkin Store, Traverse des Sioux, and Fort Ridgely State Historic Sites.

AStoriedWilderness:RewildingtheApostleIslandsJamesW.Feldman(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. 324 p.

Cloth, $35.00.)

Wilderness,onedefinitiongoes,isaplace“wheretheearthanditscommunityoflifeareuntrammeledbyman,”appear-ing“tohavebeenaffectedprimarilybytheforcesofnature.”

BirchCoulie:TheEpicBattleoftheDakotaWarJohnChristgau(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,

2012. 137 p. Paper, $16.95.)

TheU.S.–DakotaWarrepresentsawa-tershedmomentinMinnesotahistory.Itbeganasaconsequenceofbrokentrea-ties,culturalupheaval,andeconomiccollapse.ItendedwithmorecasualtiesthanMinnesotaincurredduringtheentireCivilWar,thelargestmassexecutioninU.S.history,andtheexileoftheDakotanation.

Thisyearmarksthesesquicentennialofthoseevents.Increasedpublicawarenessandinterestgeneratedbytheanniversaryhavebeenmetbynewpublications,publicprograms,andmuseumexhibits.Thisheightenedattentionisrecent;manyMinnesotansdidnotlearnthishistoryinschoolandarenowapproachingitforthefirsttime.

JohnChristgausetshissightsonthataudiencewithhisnarrativeinBirch Coulie.Theprefacestateshisdesireto“provideadramaticnarrative.”Chapteronethrustsreadersdirectlyintoeventsontheeveofthebattle.Thesceneisde-scribedinrivetingdetail:soldierscampingafteradayspentburyingcivilianvictimsofpriorviolence,andDakotawar-riorsplanningamorningoffensive.

Chaptertwostepsbacktoprovideanintroductiontothecausesofthewar.TwohundredyearsofinteractionsbetweentheDakotanation,missionaries,furtraders,andtheU.S.governmentledtothe1851treatiesofTraversedesSiouxandMendota.TheDakotawerepromisedpaymentsingold,food,andsupplieseveryJuly1for50yearsinexchangeforthebulkoftheirterritory—24millionacres.TheywouldmovetoareservationalongtheMinnesotaRiver,whichstretchedroughlyfrompresent-dayBrownsValleytoFairfax.

Chaptersthreeandfourdescribethewar’sbeginning.ThekillingoffivesettlersnearActontriggeredacouncilbytheDakotasoldierslodge,followedbythesackingoftheLowerSiouxAgency,ambushattheRedwoodferry,andmultiplebattlesatFortRidgelyandNewUlm.

Thefollowingthreechapters,nearlyathirdofthe113-pagebook,immersereadersinablow-by-blowaccountoftheBattleofBirchCoulee.About170U.S.soldiersandcivilianscampedinanexposedlocationnorthofFortRidgely.Poorlysuppliedandoutnumbered,theyendureda36-hoursiegebyDakotawarriors.Bythetimereinforcementsfinallyar-rived,theDakotaforcehadkilled13,wounded47,andslainall90horses.

Christgau’saccountisaneasyandengagingread.Itsaction,dramaticlanguage,andsubjectmatterwillbeap-

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Wisconsinresidentsandpoliticianscalledforthecreationofanationalparkontheislandstohelprevivetheirdepressedeconomy.TheseeffortsultimatelyledtotheestablishmentoftheNationalLakeshorein1970andthe2004federalwildernessdesignation.

Re-creatingwildspacesintheApostlesdidnotonlyoccurbecausenewtreesgrewinfarmfieldsbutalsobecausefederalandstategovernmentsandconsumersbegantolookattheislandsdifferently.DrawingonJamesC.Scott’sSeeing Like a State(1998),Feldmanexplainsthat,asstatepowerexpandedduringthelate-nineteenthandearly-twentiethcentury,bureaucraciessoughtthecreationof“legible,”sim-plifiedlandscapesthatcouldbeadministereduniformly.IncreasinglyfortheApostles,thismeantmakingtheislandsconformtoawildernessidealbyrestrictingusetooutdoorrecreationandnatureprotection,attheexpenseof“produc-tive”activitiesandmorestaid,“developed”formsoftourism.Theexpansionofapost-WorldWarIIconsumersociety,meanwhile,createdaconstituencyforwilderness,astour-istsarmedwithnylontentsandaluminumcanoesflockedtothesespaces.Themodernstateandthemodernconsumer,then,createdthewildernessintheApostleislands.

Thedanger,concludesFeldman,isthatincreatingwildernessintheApostles,wehavepaperedovertheislands’history;NPSobjectivesseektoameliorateorremovetheevidenceofhumaninfluenceinordertoconformtothatlegibledefinitionofwilderness.ToFeldman,thisapproachrepresentsamissedopportunitytoallowvisitorsto“seetheconnectionsbetweennatureandculturethatcreatedsomanywildplaces.”Thinkingaboutthoseconnectionsisnotonlymorehonestbutactuallydemonstratesthe“necessityofinterventiontoprotecttheplaceswevaluemost.”

EnvironmentalhistorianswilllearnmuchfromA Storied Wilderness,butIsuspectitcandomoregood(andperhapsbeevenmorerevelatory)ifitfindsitswayintothehandsofparkplannersandpolicymakers.Andasforvisitors,IknowwhenIgetachancetogototheApostleIslands,Feldman’sbookwillbeinmypack.

Reviewed by Kevin C. Brown, who graduated with a PhD in history from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2012. His dissertation was an environmental and labor history of the lumber industry in Minnesota and Louisiana from the 1870s through the 1930s.

Thistext,fromthefederalWildernessActof1964,merelyconfirmswhatthetermcommonlyevokes:pristine,remote,andahistoricalspaces(merci-fully)untouchedbyhumanbeings.

JamesW.Feldman’snewstudy,A Storied Wilderness: Rewilding the Apostle Islands,throwsamajorwrenchintothisclassicconceptionofwilder-ness.Ittakesreadersintothewoodsandthewatersoftheseislands—acollectionofmorethan20clumpedtogetherjustofftheWisconsincoastinsouthwesternLakeSuperior—andmakessomesurprisingfinds.Justoffwildernesstrailsandintheshallowwatersbetweentheseislands,mostofwhichconstitutethefederallydesignatedGaylordNelsonWilderness(itselfapartofalargerApostleIslandNationalLakeshore),lieabandonedloggingtrucks,lighthouses,fish-ingnets,farmhouses,andquarries.

ThepresenceoftheseartifactsdefiesassumptionsaboutwhatwildernessisandleadsthewayforFeldman’sargu-mentthattheislands’landscapes“representbothhistoryandnature,workingsimultaneouslyandtogether.”TheApostles,heconcludes,havebeenundergoingaprocessofdeliberate“rewilding”atthehandsoftheNationalParkSer-vice(NPS),thoughinwaysthattendtoobscureevidenceoftheislands’veryhumanhistory.

Insixwell-craftedchapters,Feldmantracestheinter-minglingofhumanandnaturalhistorythatshapedtheApostles.WhilenativepeoplehadusedtheislandsforcenturiesandFrenchtradersmaintainedapostonone(Madeline)throughthe1830s,Feldmanbeginshisin-depthanalysisinthe1850s,whenEuro-Americansbeganfishing,logging,homesteading,andquarryingthere.Themar-ketandsubsistenceactivitiesofbothresidentsandsmallfirmsembeddedtheislandsintheindustrializationoftheAmericanMidwest.Feldmantellsusthat,collectively,these“landscapesofproduction”alteredtheenvironmentinavarietyofways,notablythroughoverfishing,loggingofcertaintreespecies(especiallywhitepine),andthecreationoforchardsandagriculturalfields.

Feldmanshowshowduringtheearly-twentiethcentury,“landscapesofconsumption”appearedalongsidethoseofproduction.Summertouristsinsearchofareprievefromthe(perceivedorreal)illsofurbansocietytaggedalongonfishingboatstoreachsummercottagesonmanyislandsandbegansportfishing(usingpoles,asopposedtothecom-mercialfishermen’snets).Asmarketfishing,logging,andfarmingsagged,beginninginthe1920s,tourism—originallyacomplementtotheislands’diverseeconomy—becamein-creasinglycentral.Inthe1930sandagaininthe1950s,some

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